Jason Bigonia, 24, of Newcastle, placed third overall and won his age division (30-34) in the Sugarloaf Marathon on May 15, in a time of 2:40:50.7. The marathon was the ninth for Bigonia, who had not run one in eight years. His time was a minute off his personal best time, and was exactly the same as his first Sugarloaf Marathon run nine years ago, in which he was the race winner.
His wife Erica Qualey is pregnant with their first child and due in June. “It is a motivational time. I asked her if I could train for a marathon and she said ‘yes,'” Bigonia said.
Although he has not run a marathon in eight years, he has “kept up his runs” averaging 20-25 miles per week. “I picked it up in January,” Bigonia said. “There were some pretty brutal runs.”
He has also run Boston, Cape Cod, Madison, Wisconsin, and Demar, N.H. marathons. His time qualifies him for the Boston Marathon, but Bigonia said, “I won’t do Boston again,” citing the extremely large numbers in the marathon.
Bigonia said he was “really sore” on Monday. “Everything hurts.” He said the Sugarloaf Marathon is relatively flat with rolling hills and mostly downhill toward the end. “Sugarloaf is not terribly hard.” He said the last six miles were tough. “It wasn’t the course; it was how I felt.”
